


All These Colors Fade For You

by Luna_Corvidae



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Kaz misses Inej, Minor-ish spoilers for Crooked Kingdom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Corvidae/pseuds/Luna_Corvidae
Summary: One crisp autumn day, a ship as familiar to Kaz as the Dregs tattoo on his wrist sails into port.A farewell, a reunion, and the months in between.
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	All These Colors Fade For You

**Author's Note:**

> Title was unapologetically taken from the song [Sunlight by Hozier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PELeEo33JXs).

The scene: a sunny spring afternoon in Ketterdam’s harbor, a slight breeze carrying the salty tang of ocean air and the sounds of bustling seaside trade.

The players: two of the most feared criminals in the city- but right now, they’re just a boy and a girl.

They stand together at the edge of the dock, murmuring farewells. She promises to return. He promises to wait. She glances fondly at him, and the sunlight carves golden shadows onto her face. He takes one of her hands in his own, white glove against soft brown skin, and lifts it to his lips. A slight tremble betrays him- but he’ll do whatever it takes, damnit, no matter what has been broken inside of him, to become someone worthy of her love. The smile on her face is equal parts pride, gratitude, and affection, and it whispers to him without words: _you are already worthy._

With a flourish, she sweeps her captain’s hat with its long swaying feathers onto her head and turns to leave- throwing one last backwards glance over her shoulder before disappearing into the ship. He gazes out at the sea for a heartbeat longer, and then begins to walk away, crow’s-head cane thumping an irregular rhythm on the old, rotting wood of the dock.

It’s not their first farewell, and it’s likely not their last, either.

While Inej is away, life goes on as usual in Ketterdam, although the clouds seem a little more grey, and the rain seems to fall a little heavier. Back at the Slat, Kaz schemes and bribes and steals and breaks a man’s fingers, as a warning. The Dregs have established themselves, for now, as a gang best left unbothered, so they’re free to focus on larger cons without constantly having to watch their back. Before Inej left she helped him gather a list of names, or rather, a list of lives to ruin: powerful men and women who have either turned a blind eye to, benefitted from, or participated in Ketterdam’s barely-hidden slave trade. Up in his study, Kaz looks at the neat rows of Inej’s handwriting and vows: _One by one, I will see you all burn._ And while Inej is away, Kaz works.

Spring turns to summer, and summer to fall. The trees outside Kaz’s window burn a brilliant orange, like molten steel. Every now and then, rumors trickle in: slaver ships that never returned, captured girls reunited with their families. Most of all he listens for tales of a captain with sharp brown eyes and knives named after Suli Saints.

And one crisp autumn day, a ship as familiar to Kaz as the Dregs tattoo on his wrist sails into port. He is there in less than an hour, coattails fluttering in the breeze, standing vigil in the center of the dock, watching crates being loaded off of _The Wraith._ All of a sudden, the brightly colored plumes of Inej’s hat come into view, and his heart stutters in his chest. She rounds a corner, her eyes catching immediately on Kaz, and the rest of the world falls away.

The sun illuminates her from behind, haloing her in light like one of her beloved Saints as she strides towards him. Her eyes crinkle joyfully at the corners, lips curving into a smile. Months at sea have given Inej a relaxed tilt to her shoulders, and something in her face seems happier, more fulfilled. Kaz knows that to keep her here with him in Ketterdam would be unimaginably cruel- and besides, he thinks, the waiting will always be worth it for moments like these.

Inej comes to a stop in front of him, eyes shaded by the wide brim of her hat. She tilts her head up, gaze meeting his, and joy is written into every corner of her face. “Kaz,” she says simply. Her voice somehow sounds even sweeter than he remembered, his name a melody on her lips.

He can’t help but smile as he replies, “Inej.” She takes both of his gloved hands in hers, gently, and he responds by leaning forward and wrapping her in his arms. She leans into the embrace, and as she tucks her head against his shoulder their faces brush ever so slightly. For a moment, Kaz feels himself beginning to slip away, that old familiar panic gripping his chest.

“Stay with me,” Inej murmurs. He takes a deep, shuddering breath, and the ground beneath his feet steadies.

His voice is rough when he speaks, almost too quiet to hear. “I missed you.” The admission feels less like surrender and more like a weight lifting from his shoulders. Sunlight always seems brighter after a storm, and that’s how it is with her return, he thinks. Inej smells like sea salt and jasmine, and all of a sudden he’s holding the sun in his arms, warmth lighting him from the inside out.

Kaz can almost feel her smile. “I missed you too.”

They stay that way for a while, the bustling traffic of the docks rearranging around them. And for a moment, everything else fades away, and they are young and in love and the whole world stretches infinite ahead of them, future brimming with possibility, and they’re in love, they’re in love.


End file.
